New York's 24th District Independent

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

The Michael Arcuri re-election team sent me yet another campaign fundraising email today. I'm getting several of these a week now, and they've really been bothering me, because Congressman Arcuri seems happy to ask for my vote, but he never tells me why I ought to vote for him. Apparently, he thinks that I'll just watch his TV commercials for information.

This afternoon's email sums up quite well what the Mike Arcuri for Congress campaign has become all about: Money. There's no policy content in the email, just this:

"I wanted to forward you this email I just received from my finance director. It looks like we're just $6,700 away from hitting our goal."

Our goal? Our goal? Does Representative Arcuri really think that I share with him the goal of helping him to collect big wads of money? No, Mr. Arcuri, it is not our goal for you to take my money. That's your goal.

You know what my goal is? It's to get a member of Congress who will support climate legislation, and support real health care reform, and oppose anti-Muslim scapegoating, and defend my constitutional rights.

Re-electing Mike Arcuri to Congress doesn't do anything to satisfy my goal. Arcuri has turned out to be a right wing Blue Dog Democrat, so consistently in league with the Republican Party in the House of Representatives that he might as well have the letters GOP tatooed on his forehead.

As far as I'm concerned, Congressman Arcuri can take his goal and shove it.

Tuesday, September 07, 2010

Yesterday, our Blue Dog Congressman, Mike Arcuri, sent out a Labor Day message in which he posed as a friend of workers:

"On today, Labor Day, I am reminded of all the sacrifices made by workers here in Upstate New York. I am proud to come from the first state to celebrate Labor Day, back in 1882, and the first state to introduce a bill to make the first Monday in September a workers' holiday. Our country has changed a lot since that first workers' parade in New York City, but the challenges that working people face remain the same..."

... which is why Michael Arcuri opposed health care reform. Sure.

How can Representative Arcuri expect us to believe that he's an ally of working Americans, when he sided with big insurance companies to try to block better access to medical care for workers?

Saturday, May 22, 2010

Sometimes, a piece of legislation makes so much sense, it's mind-boggling that any member of Congress would withhold support for it. But then, Congressman Mike Arcuri has a special knack for withholding support for worthy causes. This week, he's at it again.

Imagine there was a bill that would:

- reduce the federal budget deficit by 16 billion dollars per year- totally eliminate federal income tax on the first $35,000 of income for all Americans (the first $70,000 for married couples)- reduce wasteful government spending

Sounds great, doesn't it? Well, brace yourself: Such a piece of legislation, H.R. 5353, actually exists in the U.S. Congress. It was introduced recently by U.S. Representative Alan Grayson, who's a Democrat. The bill has the support of both Democrats and Republicans, however.

Michael Arcuri is not among those who who support H.R. 5353. Why the heck not? If we can't count on Congressman Arcuri to support even a bill like this one, what on earth can we count on him for?

Friday, May 21, 2010

In 2006, Democratic voters here in the 24th congressional district of New York nominated Mike Arcuri to be their party's candidate to the House of Representatives. Of course, they didn't have a choice - national party leaders had interfered in the primary election process, pushing other candidates out of the way for the sake of Arcuri, who was supposed to be "electable".

Now, four years later, we have a long record that shows what "electable" really meant. It meant that Congressman Michael Arcuriisn't really much of a Democrat. Over and over again, when the chips were down on really important issues, such as climate change, constitutional rights, and health care reform, Representative Arcuri has voted with the Republican Party, against the wishes of Democratic voters in our district.

Now, as we watch the Deepwater Horizon disaster in the Gulf of Mexico get worse and worse and worse, Congressman Arcuri is springing into inaction again. There's a great bill that's been introduced by real Democrats in the House of Representatives - Democrats who aren't afraid to protect America's coasts from environmental disaster. It's H.R. 5248, the No New Drilling Act. The authors of this legislation rationally look at the huge economic and environmental disaster caused by offshore drilling, and say, "Hey, let's not do that again. Let's put a moratorium on offshore drilling."

Mike Arcuri? He won't sign on to the bill. Once again, Arcuri won't support a good Democratic solution to a national crisis. Why should Democratic voters support Arcuri in another election?

Michael Arcuri can't seem to make allies in the House of Representatives very effectively. Perhaps his membership in the right wing Blue Dog Coalition is part of the problem, alienating Arcuri from his Democratic colleagues.

Whatever the cause, even though Congressman Arcuri's own political party is in the majority, Arcuri hasn't been able to get a single bill in the current session of Congress passed into actual law.

Sure, Arcuri has offered a few procedural motions and toothless resolutions, and those have gotten votes. These are nothing but pieces of paper, however - not laws that actually help people in our district or in the USA as a whole.

For example, Representative Arcuri introduced H.Res. 692, a resolution supporting the goals of Tay Sachs Month. That sounds great, until you look at what the resolution actually does: Nothing. It doesn't provide funding, or any other form of tangible government support, to deal with Tay Sachs disease. It's just a congressional press release. That's all.

Arcuri has spent his time offering a great number of procedural bills that do nothing more than "providing for the consideration of" legislation written by other, more competent, members of Congress. It's like Arcuri is serving as bat boy to U.S. Representatives who really know how to get things done.

My favorite "accomplishment" of Congressman Arcuri in this term of Congress is his H. Con. Res. 133. It's a motion providing for an adjournment of Congress. That pretty much sums up Mike Arcuri's congressional career.

In 2010, it's time that Arcuri adjourns his stand as New York's 24th district representative for good.

Monday, March 22, 2010

What will it take for the Democratic voters of New York's 24th congressional district to wake up and realize that Congressman Mike Arcuri is a stealth Republican? Maybe last night's vote by Arcuri to vote against Barack Obama's health care reform legislation will do the trick.

This right wing Blue Dog keeps on voting like a Republican. Why doesn't he just switch parties, and run in the Republican primary if he likes that party's policies so much?

The Working Families Party now seems ready to finally peel itself off from the bottom of the Democratic Party's boot heel, and look for a new candidate to run against Michael Arcuri. Epidemiologist Les Roberts seems like a good choice - perhaps for a Green Party line run as well?

There were some brave Democrats who stood against the infamous law, which enables government snooping into our private records, and surveillance of us without the protections the Constitution guarantees. Representative Arcuri was not among them.

Representative Arcuri voted to prolong some of the worst abuses begun under George W. Bush. Why not call Arcuri a Bush Democrat?

Thursday, September 03, 2009

In terms of surface area, most of Tompkins County is in the 24th congressional district. So, it's worth noting that, tonight at the Tompkins County Public Library in Ithaca, in the Borg Warner Room from 6:15 til 8:15, the Tompkins County Green Party will be having its monthly meeting.

Tuesday, August 04, 2009

Just who does U.S. Representative Michael Arcuri owe his allegiance to? The fundraising statistics for Acuri's 2010 re-election campaign so far don't look good for those of us who live in his district.

Congressman Arcuri has raised $101,555 in campaign donations from individuals so far. That may sound like a lot of money, but it's much, much smaller than the amount Arcuri has received from political action committees.

Mike Arcuri has taken $344,170 from PACs in order to fund his 2010 campaign - well over three times the amount he's gotten from individuals. The Arcuri for Congress campaign in 2010 looks to be a top-down enterprise, backed by insider interests, not the people Arcuri is supposed to represent.

Friday, July 24, 2009

The Democrats of New York's 24th congressional district are facing the birth of a new political reality that ought to alter their calculations of their party's conceptual positioning. The question is whether they realize it's the case.

The new reality is the alienation of the political left. At the height of Democratic victory, progressives are realizing that the Democratic Party has never intended to speak to their interests. All the promises of liberal reform from the last eight years are being exposed as crass manipulation used to bring the Democrats back into the centers of power.

The Blue Dog Coalition, of which Michael Arcuri is an enthusiastic member, represents the sort of Republican-lite ideology which is alienating increasing numbers of Democratic voters. The Republicans themselves cannot gain the attention of these disenchanted voters, given the way that the Republicans have abused the public's trust so conspicuously, for so long.

So, who can step into this breach, to take advantage of this political moment? In the 24th District, the Green Party may be doing so.

This week, sensing the opportunity created by the Democrats' disappointment, the Green Party of Tompkins County has re-organized, electing new officers and endorsing two candidates for local office in 2009. Most of Tompkins County is in Mike Arcuri's congressional district.

Will the Green Party challenge Arcuri from the left in 2010? Wait and see...